''The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' (french: Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro) is a 2011 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Robert Guédiguian Robert Jules Guédiguian (born 3 December 1953) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Most of his films star Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Pierre Darroussin. Life and career Guédiguian is the son of a German mother and an Arme ...

. It premiered in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...

. It won the audience award and the Silver Spike at the

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

Plot

Michel (

Jean-Pierre Darroussin Jean-Pierre Darroussin (born 4 December 1953) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was born in Courbevoie, France. Theater Filmography Actor *1992: '' Riens du tout'' (directed by Cédric Klapisch starring Fabrice Luchini, Daniel Berlioux) ...

), lives happily with Marie-Claire (

Ariane Ascaride Ariane Ascaride (born 10 October 1954) is a French actress and screenwriter. She has appeared in films such as '' Marius et Jeannette'' (''Marius and Jeannette''), '' Ma vraie vie à Rouen'' (''The True Story of My Life in Rouen''; USA, ''My Lif ...

), his wife of nearly 30 years. A dedicated

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

for CGT ( General Confederation of Labour), he is charged with calling out the names in a draw in the shipyard to select who will be the 20 workers which it has been agreed will be made redundant. Though he did not need to place his own name in the draw, he did so and it is drawn, and so he becomes one of the two losing their jobs. His fellow workers and his family organize a party for his 30th wedding anniversary and present he and his wife with travel money and a ticket to Tanzania so they can climb

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

, singing the 1960s hit song "

Kilimandjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

". Raoul ( Gérard Meylan), Michel's brother-in-law, workmate and fellow trade union official presents him with a treasured but long-lost comic book from Michel's childhood, which Raoul says he found in a secondhand bookshop. Before they leave for their holiday, Michel and Marie-Claire are playing cards at home with Raoul and Raoul's wife, Denise (

Marilyne Canto Marilyne Canto (born 18 November 1963) is a French actress and film director. She won the 2007 César Award for Best Short Film for '' Fais de beaux rêves''. Selected filmography References External links * 1963 births Living peop ...

) and are brutally robbed by two men of the comic book and other possessions. Michel is injured while Denise becomes seriously disturbed from the trauma. On a bus, Michel sees two children reading the stolen comic book. Following them, he recognises their older brother Christophe (

Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet (born 4 December 1987) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. Career Theatre Between 1998 and 2002, he was a member of the chorus at the Opéra National de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary op ...

) as one of his fellow redundant workers. He identifies Christophe to the police and watches his arrest. Gradually, Michel and Marie-Claire discover that Christophe is caring for his two younger brothers, neglected for years by their mother. Michel has second thoughts and wants to withdraw his accusation, but the case cannot be withdrawn. In the spirit of his hero, the French socialist leader

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social demo ...

, he decides to try to help the two younger brothers, only to discover that Marie-Claire has beaten him to it and is already secretly taking care of the children. They realise that it is their shared ideals that cement their relationship and, after arguments with their own, grown-up, children and with Raoul, they take the two boys into their home to look after them while their brother serves a long sentence. Raoul admits that he didn't find the comic book in a secondhand bookshop at all, but had stolen it from Michel when they were children.

Cast

as Marie-Claire *

as Michel * Gérard Meylan as Raoul *

as Denise *

as Christophe *

Anaïs Demoustier Anaïs Demoustier (; born Anaïs Aude Marie Michèle Demoustier; 29 September 1987) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films since 2000. Personal life During the filming of ''Marguerite & Julien'', Demoustier began dating ...

as Flo *

Robinson Stévenin Robinson Stévenin (born 1 March 1981) is a French actor. Personal life Robinson's father is the actor Jean-François Stévenin. Also in the acting profession are his brother Sagamore Stévenin, Pierre Stévenin and his sister Salomé Stéve ...

as Commissioner * Adrien Jolivet as Gilles *

Karole Rocher Karole Rocher (born 4 July 1974) is a French actress best known for her role as Roxane Delgado in the French TV series ''Braquo''. Life and career Karole Rocher grew up in Sartrouville, outside Paris, with her father and spent her summers with h ...

as Christophe's Mother *

Julie-Marie Parmentier Julie-Marie Parmentier (born 13 June 1981) is a French actress. She began practising theater at nine years old, in Saint-Quentin, Aisne. At the age of fifteen, she played in her first feature film, ''Petites'', by Noémie Lvovsky. Since the ...

as Agnès *

Pierre Niney Pierre Niney (; born 13 March 1989) is a French actor. He made his acting debut in the two-part television miniseries ''La dame d'Izieu'' in 2007, followed by films such as ''LOL (Laughing Out Loud)'', ''The Army of Crime'', ''Romantics Anonymous ...

as Waiter

Story and title

The story, written by director Robert Guédiguian and Jean-Louis Milesi, takes its inspiration from the poem ''Les pauvres gens'' oor People(How Good Are The Poor) one of the best known of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's poems from his three-volume poetry collection, ''

La Légende des siècles ''La Légende des siècles'' (English: ''The Legend of the Ages'') is a collection of poems by Victor Hugo, conceived as an immense depiction of the history and evolution of humanity. Written intermittently between 1855 and 1876 while Hugo worked ...

'' (The Legend of the Centuries). The title, on the other hand, is taken from the name of the song the main characters' family sings in the film:

Pascal Danel Jean-Jacques Pascal known professionally as Pascal Danel (born 31 March 1944) is a French pop singer and composer. He absconded from his school to become a tightrope walker for a travelling circus. It was at this point that he assumed his sta ...

's song "

", known in French as ''Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro'' (The Snows of Kilimanjaro).

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds a rating of 100% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.17/10.

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snows Of Kilimanjaro 2011 films 2011 drama films 2010s French-language films French drama films Films set in the 21st century Films directed by Robert Guédiguian Films set in Marseille Films shot in France Films based on works by Victor Hugo Films about the labor movement 2010s French films